Congress vs. BJP: Indian Politics

By reComparison Contributor

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Difference between Congress and BJP

The Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) are two major political parties in India. Congress was established in 1885 and is one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. It led India in the struggle for independence and became the most dominant party in the movement to free India. BJP was established in 1980 and is the second largest political party. Both Congress and BJP form the major components of two largest coalitions in the country viz. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) respectively. At present UPA is the ruling alliance under the leadership of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

History

Before independence, Congress had two major groups – the Moderates and the Activists. Both groups worked with different ideologies, Activists being more aggressive. Since 1947 when India became an independent nation, Congress remained in power for 48 out of 60 years. Congress tasted defeat on a national level for the first time in 1977. The Bharatiya Janta Party was established in 1980 and took part in the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Movement, during which it won support of millions of conservative Hindus. It remained in power from 1998 to 2004.

Ideology

Congress promotes populism, secularism, liberalism and supports the public / private partnership model (PPP). It opposes unregulated finance and business. Party believes in the development of every sector of society. As far as foreign policy is concerned, INC sticks to nonalignment. Bharatiya Janta party believes in the concept of Integral Humanism. According to BJP individual achievements and free markets play crucial role in the economic development and strongly advocates the concepts of the ancient Indian culture. It also supports the formation of new smaller states for better governance. Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were the three new states formed by the government of BJP.

Criticisms

The period of national emergency (1975-1977) is considered to be the most controversial one in Indian History. After Indira Gandhi’s assassination many Congress party workers were accused of participating in the Sikh riots. Rajiv Gandhi’s remark- “When a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it shakes a little”, was criticised which pointed to the riots after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. BJP, on the other hand, was accused of spreading communal violence in Gujarat. Many leaders were arrested for spreading violence in the Rama Janmabhoomi case. Varun Gandhi who ran for election in 2009 on a ticket from BJP, was criticised for making remarks that could ignite the fire of hatred among Hindus and Muslims.

Discuss It: 5

Believe it or not, these politicians are twins in the political world of India. While Pawar was born on December 12, 1940, at Baramati, Maharashtra while Antony was born on December 28, 1940, at Chertalai in Kerala. They were born in the same month. Both of them completed 70 years of age last December.

Both of them began their political career as student leaders of the Indian National Congress.

Antony became the state president of Kerala Students Union. Later on, he became president of Kerala Pradesh Youth Congress Committee.

Pawar began his political career in the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee. He was elected as an MLA, as a representative of the youth wing.

Antony broke away from the Congress, and launched his Antony Congress in 1977. He joined hands with the CPI (M), and became the chief minister of Kerala.

Likewise, Pawar broke away from the Congress and launched the Socialist Congress Party. He joined hands with the erstwhile Janata Party, and became the chief minister of Maharashtra, under the banner of Progressive Democratic Front.

Both Pawar and Antony soon returned to the parent body. Their tenure as chief minister was very short lived.

Subsequently both of them became chief ministers of their respective state on three different occasions. However, both of them have not completed even one full five year term as chief minister. Both of them have been leaders of the opposition in their respective states. Coincidentally, both of them completed one full term of five years as leader of opposition.

Both of them have been members of the Congress Working Committee at New Delhi.

Pawar was the defence minister in the Narasimha Rao cabinet, and Antony was the minister for civil supplies. Now the roles have been reversed with Antony holding the post of the defence ministry while Pawar is in charge of the civil supplies.